Hawks Awarded National Scholarships and Fellowships

Ten Saint Joseph’s University students received prestigious scholarships and fellowships for the 2025-2026 academic school year. Across disciplines and continents, the students are using the funding to advance their studies and bring new knowledge back to campus. 

“The Office of Fellowships is incredibly proud of these students, whose hard work, curiosity and determination have led them to these great opportunities,” says Enrique Téllez-Espiga, PhD, director of fellowships. “Whether they are researching solutions to health challenges or engaging in cross-cultural dialogue abroad, they represent what it means to be a Saint Joseph’s student: intellectually driven, globally minded and committed to making a difference."

Here’s a closer look at how two students are putting their scholarship to use.
 

Combating Disease-Causing Bacteria

Abby Robinson, BS ’27, fell in love with research in the microbiology lab of Professor Shantanu Bhatt, PhD. 

“My favorite part of science has always been the lab component,” she explains. “It gives me an outlet for my questions and curiosities and allows me to engage in discovery-based learning. In Dr. Bhatt’s lab, I get to do that every single day.” 

The lab’s work focuses on bacterial pathogens and the role of molecules like small RNA that modulate their virulence. 

“Our data becomes one small step toward the eventual goal of developing drugs to combat these bacterial pathogens,” she says. “I know that my work is going to help people, which I find extremely rewarding — it’s challenging but gratifying work.” 

Her prowess has earned her a Goldwater Scholarship, a prestigious award for students interested in STEM research careers. 

“Not only does this support my academic pursuits financially, but it also provides me with a network of other scholars that I can connect with in my field,” she says. 

Studying Divided Societies Across the Atlantic

With a Fulbright Summer Institute scholarship, Jake Richfield, BS ’27, was off to study divided societies and reconciliation at Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland. 

The three-week program put Richfield at the center of the society that experienced the Troubles, a three-decade period of violent conflict surrounding Irish independence. 

As a political science major, Richfield has studied international conflict, partition and reconciliation, and says the experience put the conflict into context.

“I don't think I would have really understood the conflict in Northern Ireland if I didn't go,” says Richfield. “Just staying in Belfast, there are probably 100 different flags associated with the conflict. Depending on the flags you see in the neighborhood, you can very much tell whether they were Unionists or Nationalists during the conflict and still today, but it's more political now rather than violent.”

A first-generation college student, this was Richfield’s first opportunity to study abroad — and his first time traveling out of the country. 

“It was really rewarding to see another country, get out of my comfort zone, learn other perspectives and embrace that culture,” he says.

2024-2025 Scholarship & Fellowship Awards 

• Faith Adedokun, BS ’27, Psychology, National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF REU)
• Olivia Beddow, BS ’26, Chemistry, Goldwater Scholarship
• Brielle Cruz, BS ’25, Environmental Science, North American Language and Culture Assistants Program, Spain
• Dorothy Danbury, BA ’27, English; Summer Research Opportunity Program at Northwestern University; Evanston, Illinois
• Grace Donohue, BS ’25, Political Science and Spanish; Jesuit Volunteer Corps; Los Angeles, California
• Andrew Fadgen, BS ’26, Chemistry, Goldwater Scholarship
• Allie Miller, BA ’24, English, Writing and Journalism, and Spanish; North American Language and Culture Assistants Program; Spain
• Anjana Mosakowski, BS ’27, International Relations, Critical Language Scholarship Spark (Arabic)
• Jake Richfield, BS ’27, Political Science; Fulbright Summer Institute at Queen’s University; Belfast, Northern Ireland
• Abby Robinson, BS ’27, Biology, Goldwater Scholarship